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DECISION No

DECISION No. 140/1999/QD-BNN-DCDC OF OCTOBER 14, 1999 ON CONTENTS AND CRITERIA FOR SEDENTARY FARMING AND RESIDENCE

THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Pursuant to Decree No. 73/CP of November 1st, 1995 of the Government on the function, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development;

Pursuant to Decision No. 05/1998/QD-TTg of January 14, 1998 of the Prime Minister on the management of the national target programs;

At the proposal of the Head of the Department for Sedentary Farming and Residence and New Economic Zones,

DECIDES:

Chapter I

GENERAL QUESTIONS

Article 1.- This Decision provides for the contents of the work of sedentary farming and residence (SFR) and the criteria to determine and classify the objects of SFR, in service of the management and guidance of SFR in the new conditions, under conformity with the realistic situation in the mountain areas of our country at present.

Article 2.- Sedentary farming and residence is a major undertaking and policy of the Party and the State, a positive and efficient measure to solve the question of nomadic farming and residence with a view to achieving socio-economic development in the mountain areas and protecting the natural resources and environment of the country.

To carry out sedentary farming and residence is to rearrange the population, reorganize production and build a new countryside for the section of the ethnic minorities who are still practicing nomadic farming and residence, thus helping to promote social progress and strengthen national security and defense.

Article 3.- SFR aims to create conditions for the section of the ethnic minorities in the mountain regions who are still practicing nomadic farming by deforestation to have their habitations and farm land or stable jobs, gradually reduce hunger and poverty, contributing to the protection of forests, protection of the ecological environment.

Article 4.- The task of SFR is to persuade, guide, help and organize the people still practicing nomadic farming and residence or who have become sedented their residence but are still practicing nomadic farming to build bases for sedentary farming and residence and to stabilize production and life.

Article 5.- Basic contents of SFR:

- To help the family households to create stable production means (chiefly farm land including plain and sloping land) and develop production.

- To help rearrange the population and build a new countryside.

- To help invest in building the essential material bases in service of production and life.

- To develop the on-the-spot human resources, to train and foster the contingent of grassroots cadres, to raise the knowledge and production skill of the population.

Article 6.- SFR is targeted at the family house-holds and the hamlets and communes of the ethnic minorities in the mountain areas who still practice nomadic farming and residence or who have sedented their residence but still practice nomadic farming.

Article 7.- These terms in the Decision are construed as follows:

- Nomadic farming and residence is the form of unstable farming and residence which depends for livehood chiefly on deforestation and plowing of virgin land for cultivation of food crops by exploiting the land for self supply.

- Sedentary residence and nomadic farming is the form in which residence has become settled and part of the land has been put to stable farming but production cannot yet meet the need in food, and deforestation for farm land is still necessary.

- Sedentary farming and residence is the state in which farming and residence have been stabilized, deforestation for farm land has stopped as well as nomadic residence and food shortage between two crops. The sedentary households have enough production means for stable farming (chiefly farm land), and the sedentary hamlets and communes have enough essential material bases to ensure production and life.

- Stable production means (chiefly farm land) such as:

+ Wet fields, terrace fields, hilly fields for intensive stable and long-term cultivation of food crops.

+ Land planted with industrial trees, specialty trees fruit trees yieding income.

+ Pastures and ponds or lakes to develop livestock breeding.

+ Forests and forest land which have been allocated to the families for exploitation or assigned under contract for long term protection.

+ Residential land and family household gardens.

- Essential material bases in service of production and life composed of:

+ Small and medium water conservancy works in service of intensive cultivation.

+ Roads linking hamlets and villages in service of communication, production, goods circulation and supply of services to the people in the area.

+ Public utility works such as schools, classrooms, health stations, medicine chests, water supply facilities... to ensure schooling, health care and improvement of the cultural and spiritutal life of the people.

- To develop on-the-spot human resources is to create conditions for the people to raise their knowledge in all aspects of social life. To train and foster the contingent of grassroots cadres on how to organize production and manage society.

Chapter II

CONTENTS OF SEDENTARY FARMING AND RESIDENCE

Article 8.- To carry out the propaganda and dissemination of the undertaking and policy on SFR of the Party and the State, the good experiences and models in carrying out SFR; to promote the activities of the mass organizations aimed at arousing the awareness of the people and get them take part in SFR of their own free will.

Article 9.- To survey and have a firm grasp of the socio-economic situation and the area of the objects of SFR, to work out the SFR plan of the province and district and the SFR project of the commune suited to the common development trend and the capacity in land and labor of each locality. On this basis, to draw up concrete quarterly, yearly and long-term plans for realization.

Article 10.- To plan the appropriate land, plants and animals for planting food crops, industrial trees, specialty trees, fruit trees, plant and exploit forests, develop trades and crafts to ensure stable income to supplant nomadic farming.

Article 11.- To arrange the population, to build a new countryside. To guide the population on how to carry out effective production and business, to promote agriculture and forestry, step by step to introduce scientific and technical advances into production and life, to create conditions for the population to integrate with the common level in the region, to preserve and develop the national identity.

Article 12.- To build the essential material bases in service of production and life, to ensure sustainable sedentary farming and residence.

Article 13.- To adopt the plan to train and foster grassroots cadres who can organize production and manage society in the locality where sedentary farming and residence has been completed. To organize study tours and popularize the experiences and raise the level of knowledge of the population.

Chapter III

CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING AND CLASSIFYING THE OBJECTS OF SFR

Article 14.- Criteria for determining nomadic farming and residence:

- A household is said to be nomadic in farming and residence when it has little or no land for stable farming and depends for its livelihood mainly on the income from deforestation for nomadic farming (from 50% upward). It has no fixed residence and moves wherever it has created a swidden.

- A hamlet or village is said to be nomadic when it has from 50% upward of its households practicing nomadic farming and residence.

Article 15.- Criteria for determining sedentary in residence but nomadic in farming:

- A household is said to be sedentary in residence but nomadic in farming when it has a stable place of living and part of its land has been put to stable farming. It depends for 50% - 80% of its source of living on this stable farm land.

- A hamlet or commune is said to be sedentary in residence but nomadic in farming when it has from 50% upward of its households sedentary in residence but normadic in farming.

The hamlets and communes which have less than 50% of their households sedentary in residence but nomadic in farming are called hamlets or communes with households sedentary in residence and nomadic in farming.

Article 16.- Criteria for determining objects of SFR:

- Hamlets or communes which have from 50% upward of their households nomadic in farming and residence or sedentary in residence but nomadic in farming are hamlets or communes targeted by the SFR program.

- Hamlets or communes which have less than 50% of their households still nomadic in residence and farming or sedentary in residence but nomadic in farming are called hamlets or communes with households targeted by the SFR program.

Article 17.- Criteria for determining basic completion of SFR:

- A household is said to have basically completed sedentary farming and residence when it no longer suffers from food deficiency between two harvests, no longer has to deforest for farm land and is no longer nomadic in residence. They are determined by the following criteria:

+ 80% and more of the value of its income to ensure its livelihood come from production on the stable farm land.

+ It has enough water for its daily use.

+ It has a stable place of living, a family garden and has livestock to raise.

- A hamlet or commune is said to have basically completed SFR when it has 85% and more of its households having basically completed SFR (compared to the total of households of that hamlet or commune targeted by the SFR program.)

- Districts and provinces are said to have basically completed SFR when they have from 85% upward of households having basically completed SFR (compared to the total of households in these districts or provinces targeted by the SFR program).

- The State shall continue to assist and invest in building the infrastructure and develop production through other socio-economic programs in order to achieve sustainable sedentary farming and residence.

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTATION ORGANIZATION

Article 18.- The Agriculture and Rural Development Service, the Sub-Department (Commission) for Sedentary Farming and Residence and New Economic Zones of the provinces targeted by the SFR program shall base themselves on the contents and criteria stipulated in this Decision to revise and classify the objects (nomadic in farming and residence, sedentary in residence and nomadic in farming and those which have basically completed SFR) as basis for the management and guidance for effective implementation of the SFR program.

The Department for Sedentary Farming and Residence and New Economic Zones shall help the Ministry organize, guide, inspect and urge the grassroots in the implementation. Quarterly biannually, and annually, they shall make an integrated report to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Article 19.- This Decision takes effect 15 days after its signing. Earlier stipulations which are contrary to this Decision are now annulled.

Article 20.- The head of the Ministry’s Office, the heads of the units attached to the Ministry, the Directors of the Agriculture and Rural Development Services, the heads of the sub-departments (Commission Chiefs) for Sedentary Farming and Residence and New Economic Zones of the mountain provinces or provinces having mountain areas shall have to implement this Decision.

For the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

Vice Minister
NGUYEN VAN DANG